Paeonia lactiflora Fantastic

Paeonia lactiflora Fantastic is a Japanese Peony that stands out for the originality and refinement of its flowers, which have remarkable shape, intense colour, and a gentle fragrance. Full of grace, it is a robust herbaceous peony variety, with mid-season flowering, producing a large number of wide flowers in a deep pink colour with a white-pink and bright pink heart. Dominating the intense green foliage, the flowers rise on rigid stems, giving the blooms a lot of elegance and making them perfect for using in bouquets.  

Herbaceous peonies mainly derive from Paeonia lactiflora, a perennial herbaceous plant native to central and eastern Asia (from eastern Tibet, northern China to eastern Siberia), where it naturally grows in woods and meadows. This plant belongs to the Ranunculaceae or Paeoniaceae family. Herbaceous Peonies, perennial by virtue of their roots, form a clump of foliage that completely disappears in winter.

The Fantastic Japanese Peony was hybridized by Bob Tischler (USA) in 1972. The plant forms an herbaceous and bushy clump from spring onwards, moderately dense, reaching 90 cm (35in) in all directions. Its large flowers, 15 to 17 cm (6 to 7in) in diameter, appear in June around mid-season, depending on the climate, and last for about three weeks. They bloom at the end of the stems, but also from a few secondary buds. They emerge as a pink bud and then open into a large flower with a corolla of rounded petals in a deep pink colour, a petaloid stamen heart in white-pink and bright pink, and few true yellow stamens. The growth of this variety is good, and it has remarkable longevity. The young purple and shiny foliage unfolds into large, dark green, highly dissected leaves. They are carried on a petiole that divides into 3, with lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate segments. The leaflets are entire or sometimes lobed. The vegetation disappears in winter, while the buds persist at ground level and will develop again in spring. This long-lived perennial plant grows from a large fleshy root that does not appreciate being moved.

The Fantastic Peony is suitable in flowerbeds or alongside pathways, in combination with timeless perennials such as Irises, Columbines, bellflowers, perennial geraniums, carnations or Christmas roses. It can also be grown in the vegetable garden to supply cut flowers for the house. Growing it in a pot is not recommended, as its needs will not be met. Over time, the peony becomes majestic and blooms more and more abundantly, producing up to 60 flowers. By combining different varieties with staggered flowering, it is possible to have blooms for 6 weeks from spring to early summer.